Combination of Sodium Cantharidinate with Cisplatin Synergistically Hampers Growth of Cervical Cancer

Background

Sodium cantharidinate (SC) has been broadly applied in lung cancer treatment in China, while its specific function in cervical cancer (CC), a great contributor to death of female reproductive system cancers, remains unclear. Our research evaluated the anti-tumor effects of SC in CC and the mechanism involved.

Methods

First, cisplatin (DDP)-resistant Caski-1 and ME180 cell lines were developed and treated with SC. The effects of SC on CC cell growth were then evaluated. Subsequently, the genes targeted by SC were predicted via the bioinformatics website. The correlations between PTPN1 expression and tumor stage, lymph node metastasis and tumor differentiation were examined. We further conducted rescue experiments by overexpressing PTPN1 in CC cells, followed by SC and cisplatin treatments. The activation of the PI3K/AKT pathway in CC cells, and the effect of SC on the growth and drug resistance of Caski-1 cells in vivo were investigated.

Results

The sensitivity of Caski-1 and ME180 cells to DDP was increased after SC treatment, which also enhanced the inhibitory effect of DDP on the cell growth. By prediction, we found that SC could target PTPN1. Patients with high expression of PTPN1 had higher clinical stage, lymph node metastasis and lower tumor differentiation. SC inhibited PTPN1 expression. Overexpression of PTPN1 attenuated the effect of SC. Furthermore, PTPN1 activated the PI3K/AKT pathway. Moreover, SC treatment inhibited the growth and drug resistance of Caski-1 cells in vivo.

Conclusion

SC promotes drug sensitivity of CC cells to DDP by targeting PTPN1, thereby impairing the PI3K/AKT pathway.

Clinical efficacy and safety of sodium cantharidinate plus chemotherapy in non-small-cell lung cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis of 38 randomized controlled trials

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE

Sodium cantharidinate has been widely used in lung cancer treatment in China. To investigate whether sodium cantharidinate improves clinical effectiveness in non-small-cell lung cancer, we systematically re-evaluated all related studies.

METHODS

All studies of cantharidinate for non-small-cell lung cancers (NSCLC) were selected from the MEDLINE, EMBASE, Web of Science (ISI), China National Knowledge Infrastructure Database (CNKI), Chinese Scientific Journals Full-Text Database (VIP), Wanfang, China Biological Medicine Database (CBM), Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Chinese clinical trial registry (Chi-CTR), WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (WHO-ICTRP) and US-clinical trials databases (established to September 2017). Their quality was evaluated using the Cochrane evaluation handbook of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (5.1.0). The data were extracted following PICO principles and synthesized through meta-analysis.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

We included 38 trials involving 2845 patients, but most trials had an unclear risk of bias. Sodium cantharidinate could increase the objective response rate (ORR) (1.52, (1.40-1.66]), disease control rate (DCR) (1.20, [1.16-1.25]) and quality of life (QOL) (1.76, [1.56-1.98]), but not the 1-year overall survival (OS) rate (1.16, [0.91-1.47]) and the 2-year OS rate (1.21, [0.51-2.91]). Subgroup analysis revealed that sodium cantharidinate and vitamin B6 at 0.5, 0.4 or 0.3 mg, and cantharidinate at 0.5 mg could all increase the ORR and DCR. Cantharidinate therapy had a lower risk of neutropenia (0.58, [0.50-0.67]), thrombocytopenia (0.57, [0.45-0.72]), gastrointestinal reaction (0.65, [0.52-0.82]) and nausea/vomiting (0.56, [0.41-0.76]) than that of chemotherapy alone. Sensitivity analysis showed that the results had good robustness.

WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION

Current evidence reveals that sodium cantharidinate can improve tumour responses and QOL with a lower risk of haematotoxicity and gastrointestinal toxicity than chemotherapy alone in NSCLC. However, the evidence does not indicate that it can improve long-term survival rates.

Role of S100A3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma and the anticancer effect of sodium cantharidinate

The fifth most common cancer worldwide is hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which has an annual mortality rate of ~800,000. Although surgical procedures for HCC, such as hepatic resection and liver transplantation, have progressed and the outcomes of patients have improved, HCC is still characterized by frequent recurrence, even after liver transplantation. In the present study the expression of the protein coding gene, S100 calcium binding protein A3 (S100A3), was observed in 62 HCC tissues and tumor-surrounding tissues. The present study indicated that S100A3 activation was involved in tumorigenesis and tumor aggressiveness. The protein and mRNA expression levels of S100A3 in the human HCC cell line (HepG2) were investigated using western blotting and reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis, respectively. The function of sodium cantharidinate in inducing HCC cell apoptosis was also investigated. Sodium cantharidinate inhibited the protein and gene expression of S100A3 in HepG2 cells in vitro. These data suggested that S100A3 has an important role in human HCC. The present study indicates that the functional properties of sodium cantharidinate are promising for the development of a novel drug that may control the expression of S100A3 and improve the treatment of human HCC in the near future.

Experimental study on the inhibitory effect of sodium cantharidinate on human hepatoma HepG2 cells

BACKGROUND

[corrected] Cantharidin, and its derivatives can not only inhibit the proliferation of tumor cells, but can also induce tumor cell apoptosis. It shows cantharidin exhibits a wide range of reactivity in anticancer. The objective of this paper was to study the inhibitory effect of sodium cantharidinate on human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MTT assay was used to detect the proliferation of HepG2 cells, and immunohisto-chemical method was used to detect the change in VEGF, protein level, and to determine the inhibitory effect of sodium cantharidinate on human hepatoma HepG2 cells.

RESULTS

As results, sodium cantharidinate significantly inhibited the growth of HepG2 cells in a time-and dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSION

We conclude that sodium cantharidinate has an inhibitory effect on human hepatoma HepG2 cells.